


The 24 Arcana

by PandorasB21



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akeshu Endgame, Bittersweet Ending, Other, Persona 5 Spoilers, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24202732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandorasB21/pseuds/PandorasB21
Summary: The 23 people that fell in love with Akira Kurusu and the one who lied to themselves.Love comes in many shapes, forms and words.Akira Kusuru was loved by many.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Kurusu Akira & Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Kurusu Akira/Everyone
Comments: 16
Kudos: 240





	The 24 Arcana

**Author's Note:**

> DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T COMPLETED PERSONA 5 OR PERSONA 5 THE ROYAL
> 
> If ATLUS are trying to tell me that Protags confidants weren't the least bit in love with him then they are COWARDS AND I'M FIXING IT
> 
> Not all of these are romantic for obvious reasons, it's about how the protag came into their lives, wrecked shop and left and how they all feel about him. 
> 
> Protag is called Akira because I like the name and it's easier to type. 
> 
> Please leave a comment with your thoughts, praise and criticism, I'm open to all and just happy to be writing again :)

The Chariot

Ryuji Sakamoto’s love for Akira was a slow realisation, he was used to people judging him for his looks, how he spoke, the way he walked. Akira had never once judged Ryuji in such a way, he was the first person to stand up for him, to tell him to stand on his own two feet no matter how much it hurt because he was worth more than Kamoshida’s words. 

The first person to stand by him, to lay down their life for him. 

Ryuji Sakamoto realised how much he loved Akira the evening he walked into Leblanc still slightly bruised from the interrogation from hell. This boy who he had signed off as nothing more than a poor geek that got dragged into Kamoshida’s Palace with him and then proceeded to fight his way through the shitty adults of this world no matter what it cost him. 

To Ryuji, Akira was somebody he respected, somebody he would fight for over and over and over again because he loved him as his brother in arms.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Lovers

Ann Takamaki didn’t think she would ever love anybody as much as she loved Shiho Suzui. Shiho stood proudly at her side for years regardless of what anybody else said about her. 

Ann came to love Akira quickly, she loved his kindness, his forbearing heart and his ability to never let what was said about him bring him down. 

She thought him odd at first, a lot of people brushed past her as she crouched with her head in her arms, torn over Kamoshida and his threats towards her best friend. 

Her only friend.

He listened to her problems, told her with a determined look in his eyes that it could be stopped. 

He helped her realise that she was not just somebody’s plaything. 

Ann realised she loved Akira when he told her on Shujin’s rooftop she was no longer alone, she no longer had to suffer anything alone because he would always be there to help.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Emperor 

Yusuke Kitagawa had never really known love. The love Madarame had shown him had been false, a method used to extract everything he wanted from Yusuke. 

Akira had never given up on trying to save him from the lie he had been living and Yusuke will be forever in his debt because of it. 

Even after he had once again been blinded by what he had always craved from his Sensei, Akira had forgiven him because despite turning his back on his leader, his dearest friend and strongest pillar of support...

Akira had still believed in him. 

Yusuke had taken a few deep breaths and pulled himself out of his well of self-hatred he stared at his friend.

His ever-beautiful grey eyes were filled with so much worry that was directed at him, always at him. Yusuke knows Akira would drag him to Leblanc every day just to make sure he was eating well if he could. 

His lips were downturned in a frown not of sadness but concern, his lithe body open as it always was to any of his friends who needed him. Yusuke remembers when he’d first seen Akira in his trunks at the beach, framing him in his fingers as he had expected it was perfect. 

Yusuke fell in love with Akira when he realised that no matter how many times he fell into despair and anger, Akira would always be there to help him love himself again. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Priestess

Makoto Nijima had been lonely since her father died. Her sister grew up and grew further out of her reach, so she threw herself into being perfect. The model student, in hopes of gaining her sisters recognition, in hopes of gaining recognition from adults. 

Makoto will never forget the look of devastation on Akira’s face when he first realised, she was stalking him. She had heard the rumours about him, who hadn’t thanks to Kamoshida leaking his criminal record and as the student council president she believed their infamous transfer student was somehow involved in the phenomenon sweeping through the city. 

She hadn’t been wrong but thinking back on it when she apologised and apologised to him, she realised she could have gone about it better. 

Akira had given her the strength to think for herself again, to stop wanting to please other people and follow whatever path she wanted to. He taught her how to live again and helped her find a place to belong. 

Makoto had realised that day in the Crossroads that she loved him dearly and that she would walk at his side for as long as he allowed her to.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hermit

Futaba Sakura had been hurting for a long time, tormented by her guilt and unwilling to listen to the truth inside her she suffered. 

Akira had given her the strength to save herself.

Even after she had cut the deal off, she could see him trying to get messages through to her. 

He helped her with her anxiety, never pushed her out of her comfort zone and softly encouraged her through his messages, his words and his actions. Akira Kusuru helped her want to live again and she would forever be grateful to him. Helped her face her uncle and get her feelings across to Sojiro, Kana and the other Phantom Thieves. 

He became so much more than a key item; he became her big brother and she loved him. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Empress

Haru Okumura had been on her own for a long time. She was quiet, didn’t have any friends that didn’t want to exploit her connection to her father. Determined as she was to change her father’s heart, she knew it wouldn’t be able to do it with just Morgana and herself. Her power was a direct reflection of her hesitation, her persona not having fully awakened. 

The Phantom Thieves helped her be honest with herself, to overcome that final hurdle in awakening her power. 

In the shock of her father passing away, in the coming days she found herself thinking of Akira. 

His calm presence and soft tones, as the leader of the Phantom Thieves next to herself, he was probably taking this the hardest. 

The boy who offered to pay for their coffee even though she had been the one to invite him out, who listened to her situation, who caught her when she almost fell over from exhaustion, who told her she had always been stronger than she herself had ever thought and helped her for hours after school tending to vegetables. 

Haru realised she was in love with Akira when the world had forgotten them, but he told her he needed her strength to go on fighting.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Magician

Morgana had no memory of where he came from, if he had a family or people he cared about or that cared about him. 

Akira had trusted him, helped him try to regain his memories and almost died in the process but never gave up believing in him even after he had left them to try and take on Okumura by himself. Akira had never seen him as useless, had never seen him as a cat or a human but a friend and a trusted confidant. 

Morgana loved Akira as a friend, a trusted ally and someone who would never give up on him.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Fool

Igor was fascinated by the prisoner, he loved that this prisoner was not one that bored him.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death

Tae Takemi had grown used to her name as ‘The Plague’ she had no interest in the small-town people, she was only focused on finding a cure for Miwa chan. 

Then the strangest teenage boy found his way into her clinic, seemingly perfectly healthy asking her for her strongest pain killers. She indulged him of course, she used him for her research, and he got what he came for, that should have been the end of it.

But then Oyamada caused her world to crash down around her, she lost her hope and her will to carry on.

Akira never gave up on something so trivial, he pushed on to find the truth when she no longer could. 

He came straight back to her, in her small waiting room with the little girl she had never wanted to treat, the little old lady who was always so polite to her, who had never believed a word about the rumours she carried and he boldly told her they had work to finish.

Tae fell in love with Akira when she no longer saw him as a guinea pig but when he became so much more to her. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temperance

Sadayo Kawakami felt her stomach fall when Kobayakawa told her the delinquent transfer student would be in her class, she couldn’t help but think back to Taiki and decides she won’t get close to him, she will treat him like any other student. She didn’t have the time to worry about him anyway.

Then he found out her secret, he softly interrupted Ms. Chouno grilling into her after school activities, when she thinks back on it now maybe he had already saved her.

Akira was always worrying about her health, he had figured out she was lying about having a sister but still called her at the service to help her, stood up for her in the hospital when the Takase’s came to demand she pay them more money. 

Sadayo had wanted nothing to do with him but she’s so glad he didn’t have the same view. She could finally be the teacher she had always wanted to be, one that was there for all of her students and had the time to help them.

Sadayo wanted to help protect him, he was still only young after all, but she loved his heart. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hanged Man

Munehisha Iwai wasn’t a soft man by nature. He had seen too much and done too much being ex yakuza but Kaoru he loved; he would do anything to keep his son safe. 

He found himself in business with a high school kid of all people, sold weird things to him and took the paper bag he gave him with a sly nod and no further questions asked. The kid kept coming back for more of his guns, some of which were quite expensive. The kid was the perfect wallflower kind he needed to get the information he needed from Masa. 

Then Tsuda threatened not only him but the kid he’d unconsciously adopted as another son. 

Akira didn’t wilt in the face of gangsters, wasn’t scared of his Yakuza background and became a role model for Kaoru, how could he not love Akira when he had become a part of his family.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Devil

Ichiko Ohya was too busy for love, she was a reporter and with the craze around the Phantom Thieves she was busier than ever. Between meeting her ridiculous quota, researching Kayo and drowning everything else out at Crossroads she was at the end of her rope. 

Then her saving grace came in the form of fluffy black hair and glasses that made him almost invisible, he needed a name and she needed Phantom Thieves information.   
When she had looked further into Junya Kaneshiro she panicked, she wasn’t about to be responsible for reporting on his dead body being found in Shibuya. 

But he didn’t die, he didn’t bat an eyelid when she used him to lie to her boss, he gave her the push she needed to continue searching for the truth no matter what and helped change her bosses heart so she could do so. 

How could she not fall in love with someone who was just like her when it came to uncovering the truth behind the injustice in this world.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hierophant

Sojiro Sakura didn’t think much of Akira when he met him, he was surprised to see the face behind the assault charge he had been given. He told him to stay out of trouble and that he could go and get himself killed if he wanted to. 

Sojiro wonders if Akira will ever really forgive him for those words one day. The boy that helped save his daughter, the boy that helped bring the truth out of Wakaba’s death, the boy who stood in front of Futaba to protect her from her uncle and etched his being so deep into Sojiro’s life suddenly he wasn’t a father to just Futaba, he was a father to Akira as well and he loved them both.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strength 

Lavenza had reached out with the last of her hope to find the trickster before she was torn apart, when she was separated into Caroline and Justine, they liked the prisoner more than either of them were willing to admit. They were proud of him when he completed the challenges on her list that she had written for him. 

They found themselves wanting to spend more time with him, to learn about him and his world, they admired his strength when he never wavered in his goal, never lost sight of his purpose and even when they tried to execute him he fought for what he believed was right. 

How could she not love this trickster when the two people inside her loved his endless fighting spirit. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sun

Yoshida Toranosuke has made some bad decisions in his life, has carried the names people called him and was trying to atone for them by starting over again. 

People that knew of him didn’t want to listen to him and those that didn’t know him didn’t care enough to listen. 

Akira was not one of those people. He listened to him, encouraged him when he flustered and stood there silently holding his sign whilst he tried to reach out to people’s hearts. 

Yoshida couldn’t not love the boy that held so much potential and he was using it to help save their country.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fortune

Chihaya Mifune had always believed that fate was absolute. The cards told her the fates of many people and she had followed their advice no matter how hopeless the outcome was. 

Then comes along this unassuming teen who shakes everything she holds dear, shakes her belief in her power to read fate and shows her time and again that fate can be changed. The boy who’s fate she couldn’t read clearly had shown her that fate was not absolute, and she had the power to help people overturn their previously impossible bad ending. 

He taught her that it wasn’t just her, the other members of the association and even her own clients all had the power to change their fate if they wanted it enough. 

How could she not have fallen in love with the only person to ever only see her as herself, not a monster or a maiden, to him she was just Chihaya Mifune and she loved him for showing her that.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Moon

Yuuki Mishima was used to being a pushover, a nobody, a zero. He was weak, couldn’t stand up for himself or other people and turned a blind eye to their suffering because he was suffering too.

When the Phantom Thieves became known, he wanted to first repay Akira for his kindness for he had stopped Kamoshida reign of terror. He became obsessed with being useful, being someone important and he used the Phantom Thieves name to do it. 

He had thought for sure that they had changed his heart when he suddenly gained the courage to stand up to those thugs even though Akira had been at his side it had been HIM that done it. The revelation that the Phantom Thieves had not changed his heart was a startling one, that all he needed to do was believe in himself.

The Phantom Thieves may not have stolen his heart, but Akira had possession of it a long time before that.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Tower

Shinya Oda was a quiet kid, he played games to stay out of the house away from his mother, Games had become a safe haven for him, and he was good at them. 

So when this nerd came out of nowhere asked him to help him learn how to shoot he wasn’t expecting much from the teen. What Shinya didn’t know about Akira was that he had an uncanny way of surpassing people’s expectations. 

Akira never complained when he was spending time with him, even though he was in high school and probably had a lot more people he could have spent his time with, he always enjoyed spending time with Shinya. He gently told him when he was in the wrong, helped him calm down when he lost a game and even helped him make new friends. 

Shinya wasn’t expecting a lot from Akira, but he never expected he would gain an older brother who he loved and never wanted to disappoint again.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Star

Hifumi Togo was a lonely girl, she was awkward, kept to herself and her shogi. She loved her parents dearly but her mothers’ attitude towards not only the sport by her as well was worrying her, however she had nobody she could talk to about it. 

Then one evening a boy stood before her asking if she could teach him how to play shogi like her. 

He listened to her talk, didn’t make fun of her embarrassing habit in fact he seemed to find it endearing and even tried to throw in some lines of his own. 

He was always so kind to her, helped change her mother even though he didn’t have to help her, but he was too kind for his own good. 

When he was put into juvenile hall, she was furious, how could someone like him, somebody that had helped her so much be a bad person? She knew she couldn’t do much, but she would do whatever she could to help the boy she loved, he was after all her first real friend.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Judgement

Sae Nijima sat opposite the boy she had seen once or twice in Leblanc, he always seemed quiet, muted colours compared to that of his bright friends. 

She would be lying if she didn’t feel something when he looked up at her, battered, bruised, drugged far too much for a teenager yet he didn’t lose the determined glint in his steel eyes as he dragged the story she needed to hear from his hoarse throat and muddled memories. 

He saved her from becoming a further pawn in someone’s game, reminded her of why she wanted to do this job in the first place. He put all of his faith in her and she believed him. 

She watched this boy who lay across her lap in the cab barely coherent as she tried to soothe his pain with her hand in his hair. How could she not love somebody so strong and fiercely loyal.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Councillor 

Takuto Maruki loved the way Akira Kurusu’s mind worked. The teen had something about him that drew people to him, made them want to talk to him, confide in him. With Rumi and Sumire, Takuto believed he was right to save them from their pain, he believed he was right in what he was doing with the world. 

He was honestly surprised and upset when Akira didn’t agree with his views. He thought Akira of all people would have agreed with him, the friends that surrounded him had all suffered. What Takuto hadn’t taken into account was the fact that all of Akira’s friends had pulled through their suffering because he was at their side. 

Takuto Maruki had no choice but realise that he too was running from his pain and he will forever love Akira for showing him how hopeful the world could be.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faith

Sumire Yoshizawa respected the kind senpai that encouraged her, who listened to her talk about their dream, who had been branded with the name delinquent yet offered to help her on the subway. 

Sumire loved her sister and ran away from reality she turned a blind eye and she thought she was happy, could live thinking she was Kasumi for the rest of her days. 

Deep down she knew it was wrong, but she didn’t have the strength to face the truth on her own. She didn’t believe Dr. Maruki was a bad person, after all he had given her the life she wanted. Once the dream was shattered and Akira was still by her side even after she tried to hurt him, she realised she didn’t want to live a lie anymore. 

She wanted to stand proudly at his side, she wanted to be useful to him, someone he could rely on for once as he had already done so much for her. She wanted to always be in the life of the first boy she loved as herself. 

As Sumire Yoshizawa.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Justice

Goro Akechi hated Akira Kurusu. 

He hated that he was stronger than him, hated that he was a lot stronger than he looked but, in their fight in his father’s palace, held back because he wanted Goro to stop the fighting and join them. Goro hates that he genuinely found him interesting, Goro hated talking to people in general but Akira was the only person Goro could stand talking to, wanted to spend time with and get to know better. 

Goro hated how easily he made friends, people that were useless, pointless and betrayed their beloved leader so easily in Maruki’s false reality. 

Goro had made his peace with Akira in the engine room, he knew Akira was the only one he could trust to change his bastard father’s heart and see it through to the end to make sure he repented. Akira still managed to one up him though, he always did, even though it was obvious he was going to die on the other side of the bulkhead door, Akira still wanted to keep their promise. 

February 2nd is when Maruki decided to bring the big guns out. Goro had avoided spending any time with Akira alone for he knew at the end of this he would be gone once again. Goro knew there was only one person left on this damned earth that cared enough to ever wish him back from the dead. 

Goro daren’t look at Akira’s face when Maruki dropped the bomb, he could hear the cat annoying as ever as he pieced it together. 

Joker tossed Maruki’s calling card across the table and Goro swore to himself that on his last breath he would make Maruki suffer for this tomorrow. 

Goro asked (demanded) to speak to Akira alone. Morgana gave a solemn nod of understanding before he trotted up the stairs. Goro had to know Akira wasn’t going to change his mind, had to know that he wouldn’t agree to live in this false reality as a puppet under Maruki’s ministrations. 

He tried to play down the worth of his life, he refused to be a puppet once again and he should go back to where he belongs. 

He didn’t belong in this reality. Not anymore.

Akira rose from the booth, fists clenched at his sides as he looked up into Goro’s eyes. 

Goro had never seen Akira look so wretched, his silver gaze a storm of emotions. Anger, sadness, frustration, hopelessness and underneath it all was something Goro had desperately tried not to acknowledge. 

Goro hated him, hated him with every part of his being. He hated this boy who had become his friend, become close to him, who he had betrayed and had tried to kill twice. Goro hated him because where all of Akira’s friends had pitied him, Akira had never once done such a thing. He always tried to understand him, to see things from his perspective. 

Goro hated him because Akira’s hands uncurled from fists and as Akira stepped closer to him his hands came to rest on Goro’s cheeks. Goro hated that the first person to touch him in years could make him feel so warm in February’s bitter frost. 

Goro hated Akira because he rested their foreheads together and said the following words that would keep him up all night. 

“In the next life, you’re mine. In the next life and for the rest of this one, I’ll love you so much to make up for your time in this life.” 

Akira pulled back slightly and Goro knew for sure now neither of them were trembling from the cold. Akira removed the fake glasses he wore all the time and placed them into Goro’s hands. 

“It’s not quite a glove but this is my promise to you.” 

Goro hates himself because he kisses Akira on his last day in this world. Goro hates himself because he knows somehow Akira will find a way to keep that promise and he’s wholly undeserving of someone as wonderful as Akira. 

Goro Akechi hates himself because if he had been willing to admit his love for Akira Kusuru sooner, they might have been able to live happily together in this life. 

Goro puts Akira’s glasses on his bedside table and smiles to himself. 

For the rest of his time in this life and however many lives he lives after, he will always love Akira Kusuru.

**Author's Note:**

> Debating an alternate ending... let me know what you think...
> 
> Scream at me on tumblr @WokePanda


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